I'm working with a project that is going to implement an atmega32u4 uC. The basic schematic is going to follow the original Leonardo schematic. The software is going to be based on the Arduino bootloader for the leonardo together with the Arduino IDE (plus new libraries).. I know that as long as the project files/hardware are open source then there should be no problem of manufacturing and selling the board (which I intend to do of course). My question is the USB licensing.. Will it be free/be tied to the original Arduino USB license (I'm an engineer, so excuse my juridical terms), or will I have to register a new VID/PID from the USB company? I know that the Leonardo also uses the LUFA project, will this give me any problems (if I indirectly use there source in my project)? Do I have to inform them in any way (LUFA)

Section 22 of the datasheethttp://www.atmel.com/Images/doc7766.pdfdoes not mention VID/PID at all. Let us know what Dean says.

Hey CrossRoads! Well I kinda went through the datasheet and some app-notes before posting here.. But unfortunately they don't clearly state what I'm up against! I don't want to make something (my first real project) and get like a thousand lawsuits from day one! I know that one should get a lawyer for this kind of things, but the project will be community funded, so not enough money for lawyers.. I know that

IF (I want my own VID/PID == 1){I'll have to pay for every license that I'm going to use (USB and LUFA)}else{I want to use the original arduino bootloader (USB + LUFA) license without any direct modifications.. I don't know what to do here!}

I'm awaiting a email from Dean.. He doesn't like to answer emails (he said that on his blog).. But still I hope he'll give me a answer soon.. I'll post his answer as soon as I get it!

Got a fast and very helpful response from Dean (who's somewhere on this forum/or got spies here =P). Here is his reply to my email:

Quote

Basel,

The bad news is that even though the Arduino group has purchased a license for their bootloader, the license does not automatically transfer to you; to receive a commercial LUFA license you would need to purchase one from me.

The good news is that this really shouldn't affect you; without a commercial license the *only* restriction is that you must put a copy of the full LUFA license text in your product manual. That's it - as long as you do that you can modify the code, sell your product in the ones or millions, print out the code and burn it, translate it into Klingon -- you get the drift, and all without paying me a cent. The commercial license is really for those companies that either a) don't want to deal with the inconvenience of reproducing the license text or b) want priority, dedicated support from me.

One restriction that might be an issue for you is the VID and PID values - I can't sublicense the ones I have from Atmel, so you would need to source these elsewhere. There's a number of cheap options but if your project is indeed open source you can apply for a free one from here: http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/USB_Product_IDs .